Process of producing decolorizing charcoal



R. VON OSTREJKO.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING DISCOLORIZING CHARCOAL.

AFPLlCTlON FILED DC-13,1916.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920;

4 SHEETS-suini.

271 vvz for* a z5 es R. VON OSTREJKO. PROCESS 0F PRODUCING ISCOLORIZINGCHARCOAL..

APPLlc/mon man 0m13.191s. 1,362,064. Patented Dec. 14,1920,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. VON OSTREIKO.

PROCESS 0F PRODUCING DISCOLORIZING CHARCOAL.

APPLICATION FILED DEC13, 1916.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

R. VON OSTREJKO.

.PROCESS 0F PRODUCING DISCOLORIZING CHARCOAL.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-13, i916. v Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

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.w @am Zzegsse-S'/ l ,UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE.

HMI; VON OSTREJKG, 0F CRAKOW, AUSTRIA,` ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, T0 THE CHEMICAL FOUNDATION, INC., A CORPGRATION 0F DELAWRE.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING- DECGLORIZING CHARCOAL.

incanta.

may concern:

that ll, RAPHAEL VON Os- TREJKO, a native of Kovno, chemical engineer, asubject of the Emperor of Russia, and resident of Crakow, Austria, havein- To all whom t l vented certain new and useful improvements 1nProcesses of Producing Decolorizing Charcoal, ot which the following isa specification. j

vThe previous methods of producing decolorizing charcoal, consist insubjecting the charcoal while in a state of red heat, to the action of.superheated steam. My vention relates to an vimprovement in the methods,heretofore used, which, in addition to a saving in fuel affords a highlyactive product suitable for the decolorization and eodorization oftechnical purposes. f

Inaccordance with my invention, the combustible gases, which are formedby the inter-action of the superheated steam and the red hot charcoal,are burned, together with a suitable addition of air, in the ployed forheating the retorts; being that,L as soon as a certain temperature hasbeen attained, all further supply of fuel may be entirely stopped. Whenthe decolorizing charcoal is ready, a portion thereof is emptied intovessels placed underneath the' retorts, and thence conveyed, throughconduits arranged in theplant, to the rear of the furnace. The charcoalis then subjected for atime, to the action of a considerthe result fable degree of heat, while entirely excluding the adnnssion of air, inorder to permit the charcoal to attain the properties desired to thehighest degree possible. ln the place of the charcoal withdrawn, theretort is fed with a fresh supply, so that the plant`may be kept inuninterrupted operation.

e piant serving my present improved comprises a furnace, having anash-pit; a chamber in which the vertical retorts are bricked in,` and` achamber for the steam superheater. rlhe hue-gases, according to thearrangement, rst come into Contact with the retorts, then passing overthe superheater tubes, and, finaily, pass oil through the chimney. Myinvention embodies a special manner of bricking in the retorts; further,a particular forni of' construction of the bottom portions of the reOrts; aiso, the arrangement of special passar-n process, essentiallySpecification of Letters Patent;

Application filed December 13, 1916.

liquids, and for electroto practically carry outy `wall` g and thebricks `ner space of the oven.

t es for the supply of air rior Patented Dec. is, i926. Serial No.136,?01.

combustion of the gases withdrawn from the retorts, and, lastly, aparticular form of construction ofthe steam superheater.

ne form of construction ofthe plant, according to my invention, isillustrated, by Way of example, in the accompanying drawings, inwhichFigures l and lal together show a complete vertical longitudinalsection, Fig. l representin the upper half of the plant, and Fig. 1a t elower half; Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section; and Fig. 31s ahorizontal sectionof the same.

The plant comprises an oven a Within which four vertical retorts b, of arefractory material, are bricked in. Each of the said retorts b isprovided at its upper tapered end with a tubular projection or neck ccarrying a lid al, and into which projection a supply pipe e terminates,through which superheated steam may be supplied from a steam superheaterf. l P

he oven a is provided with a furnaceg, having a door 7L and a grate z'of ireproof bricks, and it communicates with an ash- Communicationbetween the furnace and the ash-pit is established-not only by thegrate-openings, but also by means of special conduits Z, the pur ose andmanner of operation of which wil be dealt with hereinafter. y TheHue-gases pass from the furnace through the openings in the pierced,fireproof wall g, into the space between the reproof jackets 72 of theretorts 25, which are held apart by fireprooi bricks 62. (Cf.

n the upper portion space 'above the jackets proper and between theretorts b and the inner reproof lining of the oven, is filled in withireproof bricks b3, disposedy checker boardwise, in such a manner as togive rise to the formation of zigzag shaped passages. sult of thisarrangement is that in consequence of the cooperation of the open-work33, 'the flue gases distribute themselves uniformly and taire anextremely sinuous path through the inthis arrangement, 'the due-gasesare completely utilized. interior of the oven communicates with thespace n t" ein the superheater pipes f are dispos-d by means of an eX-haust flue m, (lrif o the flue gases necessarily pass the space :t

of the oven, the

The refeo f through the discharge tube mand the supere'ra'e to reach theeue 0 (rig. in) of the chimney. L In addition, the interior of thefurnace g is in communication with the interior of each retort b in thefollowing manner The tapered lower portions of the retorts b, which areprovided with openings p close to their edge, and are adapted to belclosed by perforated slide plates g of a refractory material, terminatein spaces or conduits r, each'of which communicates, by means of `twoconduits r', facing one another, with the collector channel s arrangedto terminate at s in the furnace. The conduits 7' are Yfairly wide; theyare accessible from without and may be closed by doors f2. The steamsupplied by a suitable generator initially 4flows through the U`shapedtube u, which surrounds the superheater pipes proper vf and which isprovided at the bottom with 4a tube t carrying a valve 15 land ,servingfor the delivery of the water of condensation. From` the tube u, inwhich the steam is dried and preheated, the

steam passes through the connection tubes u and u2, tothe horizontaltube M3, and

thence through the Yvalve f into the four superheater tubesproper f,which are heated by the fuel gases passing through the vertical space orflue fn.,- each of the tubes f being in communication by means of a tubee with the interior of a retort 6.

#The furnace g is furthermore provided i with side openings g2, adaptedto be closed i ash-pit openin served, and they may when required, andthe purpose of 4which will be explained later on when the inode ofoperation 4of v.the plant'is dealt with; The is accessible from withoutby f7 a door j and is provided with an o formed in the side wall, thearea of vvliic may be adjusted as desired. Y

The plantgis moreover provided at suitable places with inspection holesfw, lw', for observation of the temperature to be obbe closed bystoppers made of burnt re clay. l

The Whole plant is reinforced in the-lon-v IDBIIS O gitudinal as well asin the transverse direc-I tion by means of rods y, provided withstretching straps The manner of operation of the plant is' as follows:

- 'The lids d of the retorts b being removed,

the retorts are charged from` above with charcoal in\ a comminutedstate. After that, the lids are hermetically closed 'and grate i, allthe slides` a fire is started on the and steam vaives bei-n closed. Thefuelgases flow in the manner previously set forth through the furnace,and, after hav'- ing heated the retorts from -wlthout, pass heater spacen, to the flue o of the chimney.

As soon as theretorts have been heated up to a red heat, (a fact whichmay be determined by peeping through the openings fw) siiperheated steamis admitted into theretorts by opening the valves 7"'. The steam actschemically on the charcoal and liberates combustible gases which passthrough the openings and the holes inthe slide plates g into theconduits 1' underneath the retorts thence to be drawn into the furnacethrough the conduitsr, 7" and s, s', wherejthey are finally burne Assoon as the front end of the oven has become white hot, the amount ofsteam supplied to the retorts is-increased and, at the -same time, the{ire-door it and the door j The subsequent heating of the in thepresence of air admitted through the l openings fv, Ic and Z. The wastegases serve to heat the furnace and the retorts; so that,

speaking in a 'certain manner, the entire operation is carried throughin a cycle.

As soon as a portion of the decolorizing I charcoal 1s ready, a certainquantity thereof is discharged into suitable vessels arranged inv theconduits @by opening the perforated slides g which are provided withoperating-rods g; after which: the charcoal thuswithdrawn is conveyedthrough the openings r2.

At this stage the charcoalpossesses to a certain extent, rthough not yetfully, the particular properties desired. 'In order to still furtherimprove tlfelcharcoal, it is convveyed through the side openings g2,which are adapted to be closed, to the rear portion of the furnace xg,which is heated to a white heat. The admission of air from the atmoshere into the furnace is entirely ex'- clu ed for a time, by closing theslide k and the door lv.

iio

It will thus become obvious that the partially prepared-decolorizingcharcoal is con- Y tained exclusively within'the furnace in anatmosphere of hot combustible gases mounting fromA the retorts,"and thatthe charcoal is heated lin the furnace until it becomes ,white hot.4 Thecharcoal has now been thoroughly treated and may be removed frzom thefurnace. The charcoal withdrawn from the retorts is replaced byuntreated charcoal which is charged into the retorts from above, ashereinbefore described.

What I claim is: f

The herein-described process ofproducing...

decolorizing `charcoal, which consists in vexteriorly'heating theretorts containing the charcoal to a red heat by means of a furnace;thereafter admitting superheated steam to the heated charcoal in theretorts, to liberate combustible gases by the chemical action of thesteam on the charcoal; leading said combustible gases from the lowerportion of' the retorts to the furnace for Y ultimate consumptiontherein, so as to thereafter heat said retorts solely by said gases;

discharging a portion of the partially-prepared charcoal from theretorts into the furnace; and finally completing calcin-ation of thecharcoal in said furnace While totally excluding air.

. l5 Signed by me at Vienna, Austria, this 24th day of October, 1916. vt

- RAPHAEL VON osTREJKo.

Witnesses ARTHUR LINDENSTEAD, AUGUST FUGGER.

